Rated 'Good' by Ofsted for the last 5 years

Unauthorised absences 100%

Lyth Hill

Located on the outskirts of Shrewsbury in a semi-rural location, Lyth Hill offers specialist residential care to girls and boys between the ages of seven and seventeen.

The home is a detached bungalow situated in spacious grounds and although not in an entirely remote location, the home is situated some distance from any town centres, public transport and main roads.

Why Choose Lyth Hill?

High quality children’s home with track record for successfully transitioning young people into foster care

High levels of educational attainment in both mainstream and specialist schools

Access to our SEN school, Access School, nearby

Specialists working with CSE and attachment disorders

Highly qualified and experienced staff team

Therapeutic team support the home on a monthly basis

Semi-rural location helps young people stabilise and feel safe

Lyth Hill gives young people the confidence, ability and opportunities to become involved in community related activities.

Location

Summary

Beds: 4

Location: Shrewsbury

Linked Education: Yes

Ofsted Rating: Good

Features

Specialists working with CSE, attachment disorders and mental health needs

Highly qualified and experienced staff team

Therapeutic Team

Consultant Psychologist support

CAMHS Service support

Benefits

Preparation for foster care or independent living

Therapeutic approach stabilises and provides a platform for young people to grow

Consistently good outcomes

Case Study

Emma arrived at Lyth Hill when she was ten years old and had experienced significant trauma and a family breakdown. Emma had insecure attachments with the adults in their life, she had a diagnosis of ASD and had withdrawn from any form of education over a prolonged period.

The care team at Lyth Hill focused on developing Emma’s identity as a starting point for them to begin the foundations of forming positive relationships. Over the first twelve months, small goals were set and then achieved, with the sole purpose of enhancing Emma’s self-esteem and outlook on the world. Home tutoring was put in place and through the resilience of the team and the in-house teacher.

Emma began slowly accepting and enjoying the process of learning again.

Within a further six months Emma was on roll at a local mainstream secondary school and surprised everybody by requesting a full timetable instead of the transition plan proposed. By remaining available and consistent during these significant hurdles, the team saw Emma flourish and gain in confidence month by month.

Examples of these milestones included attending a salon with a carer to have her hair styled, performing in a school pantomime in front a large audience and going abroad on a school trip without carers accompanying her.

Emma remained with us at Lyth Hill for a further twelve months and through the work of the team and her social worker she recognised that she felt ready to consider a foster family. This process was taken steadily at a pace that Emma felt comfortable with. Throughout this period a number of foster carers were considered but did not match with Emma’s identified needs. This message of wanting to find the right carers for Emma reaffirmed that all involved cared for her and were determined to find carers that would meet her needs.

Emma has now successfully transitioned to her new home and is a happy and talented young person who possesses the skills required to cope with the difficulties life can present.

Both the young person’s Social Worker and IRO have rated the placement as ‘outstanding’ and made the following comments: “Lyth Hill have done an amazing job supporting Emma. They have helped her grow in confidence and have significantly raised her self-esteem.” - Social Worker

“I am very impressed with the way Lyth Hill staff have prepared Emma for her future foster placement and how they have worked with the family and parents.” - Independent Reviewing Officer

Secure Base

The Secure Base Model (Schofield & Beek) provides a positive framework for therapeutic caregiving, which helps young people feel secure and builds their resilience. It focuses on the interactions that occur between caregivers and young people on a minute by minute basis. It also considers how those relationships can enable the child to develop competence in the outside world of school, peer group and community.

Therapeutic Input at Lyth Hill

For quality and consistency Family Care employs its own therapeutic team. The team are all qualified therapists, registered with HCPC. Our therapist meets with the team twice a month through a ‘consultation model.’ Research shows that consultation is the most effective model of delivering therapeutic interventions, through a staff team, in a systemic way. This creates the ideal conditions for direct work where this is deemed appropriate.

Therapeutic governance enhances risk management and provides a further layer of safeguarding not only the young people in our care but also for the teams caring for them.

At Family Care we believe that integrating therapeutic support into residential practice strengthens and empowers existing staff’s knowledge and skills. This improves team resilience, job satisfaction, helps to reduce turnover and contributes to consistently positive outcomes for the children and young people in our care.

Gallery

“I feel very settled and supported at Lyth Hill. The staff ‘get me’ and understand how I think and function. The staff listen to me and help me express my opinions in meetings which I know are important”

Young Person - May 2015

At Lyth Hill we have a highly trained staff team that are focussed on ensuring the best possible outcomes for all our young people. We provide a homely therapeutic environment that gives young people the chance to have fun, feel safe while exploring their world through fun activities aimed at increasing their resilience, self-confidence and raising their self-esteem. Through patience and understanding, our Team are dedicated to helping our young people to develop meaningful relationship and progress towards achieving their goals, thus creating a brighter future.

Manager – James Spice

It was a total pleasure to meet you all during my inspection at Lyth Hill. It was wonderful to see you all doing lots of different activities and having varied interests which staff clearly support. I found you were given lots of opportunities to stay healthy, including the meals you receive. For example the wonderful homemade soup which smelled amazing! I was very impressed with the care and support you receive on a daily basis and importantly how you value this support. I have given a judgement for Lyth Hill as Good which I think reflects the great care and support you receive from the staff team!

Ofsted

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